CULTIVATED IMPRECISION
by Carlo Buffa
RITRATTI
The peculiarity of using upright capital letters in conjunction with italic lowercase is not the result of oversight or lack of the correct type to use. In fact, this was done on purpose out of an artistic sensibility inspired by the forms of letters found in manuscripts.
The calligrapher Ludovico Arrighi, in his handbook on calligraphy entitled La Operina published in 1522, says, “Note, my gracious reader, that your capital letters should be written upright, because otherwise, as it seems to me, they will have no grace at all.”
